Referendum may make or break 40-year wait

Sunday

Jul 14, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Sure, gambling competition from Pennsylvania, Atlantic City and maybe even Las Vegas could try to defeat the November vote to legalize casinos in New York – a vote that could finally deliver casinos to the Catskills.

“There will be gaming money to kill the referendum,” says state Sen. John Bonacic, R-C Mount Hope, an architect of the law that could bring two casinos to Sullivan and Ulster counties.And yes, churches and other anti-casino groups are sure to battle the constitutional change on moral and social grounds.

“It (gambling) hurts more than it helps,” says Stephen Shafer of the Saugerties-based Coalition Against Gambling in New York, which counts groups like New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom and its 6,400 evangelical churches as members.

But according to politicians, pollsters and industry experts, the real opposition to making the region's 40-year dream of casinos come true will probably come from the two mammoth forces that are the toughest to fight.

The first is New York City, which is likely to draw the state's highest concentration of voters in November because of its mayoral election. Those voters are already narrowly opposed to changing the state constitution to allow casinos, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

“This is going to be won or lost coming out of New York City,” says Joe D'Amato, CEO of Empire Resorts, which plans to build a resort casino at the site of the old Concord resort in the Town of Thompson.The other opponent may be even tougher to battle because it's harder to define: Voter apathy.

STEVE ISRAEL

Sure, gambling competition from Pennsylvania, Atlantic City and maybe even Las Vegas could try to defeat the November vote to legalize casinos in New York – a vote that could finally deliver casinos to the Catskills.

“There will be gaming money to kill the referendum,” says state Sen. John Bonacic, R-C Mount Hope, an architect of the law that could bring two casinos to Sullivan and Ulster counties.And yes, churches and other anti-casino groups are sure to battle the constitutional change on moral and social grounds.

“It (gambling) hurts more than it helps,” says Stephen Shafer of the Saugerties-based Coalition Against Gambling in New York, which counts groups like New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom and its 6,400 evangelical churches as members.

But according to politicians, pollsters and industry experts, the real opposition to making the region's 40-year dream of casinos come true will probably come from the two mammoth forces that are the toughest to fight.

The first is New York City, which is likely to draw the state's highest concentration of voters in November because of its mayoral election. Those voters are already narrowly opposed to changing the state constitution to allow casinos, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll.

“This is going to be won or lost coming out of New York City,” says Joe D'Amato, CEO of Empire Resorts, which plans to build a resort casino at the site of the old Concord resort in the Town of Thompson.The other opponent may be even tougher to battle because it's harder to define: Voter apathy.

“The people who get business from casinos, they care a lot,” says Mickey Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “The anti-gambling people, they care a lot. So what makes a difference is lobbying the rest of the people. It's the kind of issue people don't get excited about. To make them excited, you've got to spend money.”

Or, as Sullivan County native Jeff Gersten, 66, says:“Who cares about a proposition?”

That's why Bonacic last week told a group of Sullivan County business, government and union leaders: “It's critical for us, upstate in the Catskills, to get the vote out.”

To do that, he said, you must emphasize the benefits that casinos will bring throughout the state – “jobs, jobs, jobs” and the millions of tax dollars that would go to education and property tax relief.But even though the referendum is a little more than three months away, the pro-casino forces in the two counties most likely to get casinos – Ulster and Sullivan – are not yet mobilized to fight for what Bonacic says may be “our last opportunity ... at least in my lifetime.” And that has some longtime casino supporters concerned.

In Ulster, the developer who aims to build a casino at the old Nevele resort outside Ellenville has been busy working with his development team to try to meet a two-year deadline for opening a casino – if the referendum passes and his project is chosen.

But Michael Treanor just met this week with Empire Resorts to talk about how to pass the referendum.

And while Ulster County Executive Mike Hein and Ellenville Mayor Jeff Kaplan both say they fully support a casino and will, as Hein says, “be advocating” for the referendum's passage, there is no clear-cut strategy, let alone any of the collaboration between Sullivan and Ulster that Treanor wants.In fact, Sullivan lawmakers have yet to meet to discuss strategy, although Legislature Chairman Scott Samuelson – who attended the meeting with Bonacic – said he has “a couple of meetings planned very soon” with lawmakers to discuss the referendum, possible casino location and casino impacts.

So far, the only tentative action about the vote came from the Town of Thompson Economic Development Committee, which held that meeting to hear Bonacic and develop a strategy to “get the vote out.”

They dusted off the decades-old “Casinos Mean Jobs” buttons and fliers. They formed a marketing committee. They heard union leaders echo what Todd Diorio, Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council president, said: that his unions would do “whatever it takes to get people out to vote.”

“We'll run TV ads; we'll run radio, whatever,” he said.

They also heard Bonacic say he would work with chambers of commerce and unions throughout the state.

But as far as that key New York City vote? And a master plan to get out the undecideds?

Bonacic wants the state's savviest politician – the man who neutralized statewide opposition from Indian tribes and racinos by giving them bigger pieces of the gambling pie – to take the lead.“I want Governor Cuomo to go to New York City and put his reputation on the line,” Bonacic said. “He hasn't said what his plan is.”

A spokesman for Empire Resorts feels confident that Cuomo can persuade voters to approve the referendum.

“This governor has proven time and time again that, against all odds, he can communicate with the public and garner support for his vision for tourism, economic activity and the creation of thousands of good-paying jobs,” said Charlie Degliomini, executive vice president of Empire.

But when a Cuomo spokeswoman was asked about a plan for the referendum, she referred to a statement the governor made July 2: “... we haven't even focused on it yet. But you have time on that right? That's in November elections, so … Call me in October, you know?”

All of which is why some longtime casino supporters are worried that more isn't being done to make the Catskills' decades-long casino dream come true.

“We got this far now, but between now and then, there's got to be a big push,” says Sullivan's Gerry Skoda, who about a decade ago compiled the study that ultimately set the $15 million per year casino-impact payment for any Indian casino coming to the county. “I think we're behind the eight ball already.”

“There's got be a big push,” agrees Greg Goldstein, former co-chairman of Sullivan's casino committee. “They've got to get out to the rest of the state, to the chambers and whatever. They've got to be out there beating the drums and do whatever it takes to get this done.”

So just a few days ago, Goldstein, Skoda and Town of Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini were among the Sullivan casino supporters who revived the county's old casino advisory board, which will meet again this week.

“We've waited 40 years for this,” said Cellini. “We can't wait much longer.”

sisrael@th-record.com

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